page_title: Buch Abbey
section_title: Buildings
hierarchical_section_title: Buch Abbey / Buildings
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kloster Buch: Ruine des ehemaligen Brauhauses im Laienbereich
context_page_description: Buch Abbey, in German Kloster Buch, is a former Cistercian monastery near Leisnig in Saxony.
context_section_description: Of the medieval buildings, the eastern parts of the church, the chapter house, the infirmarium, the abbot's residence and several auxiliary buildings have survived.
  The church was a pillared basilica with a nave and two aisles and a transept. An outer wall of an aisle, the choir and three sidechapels are still extant. Using medieval parts (pillars, windows, and vaults), a smaller evangelical church was built in the choir to serve the manor with an altar on its western side. From the courtyard it cannot be recognised as a church.
  The chapter house with a length of 70 m is witness to the generous planning of the builders and founders who envisaged a numerous convent. Its room layout was changed several times according to the varying uses after the dissolution of the monastery. It contained the assembly room on the ground floor, while the upper floor served as the dormitorium. Toilets, the so-called necessarium, were located at its southern end. A sewer branching off the Mulde river flowed through this part of the building which was only accessible from the inside of the dormitorium. Remainders of the lower part of the necessarium can still be viewed.
  The two-storied abbot's residence was built around 1400 as evidenced by dendrochronological studies of the roof timbers. Its outward appearance is determined by alterations performed in the 16ths and 17th century, while the portal with its pointed arch dates back into the Middle Ages.
  The infirmarium (sick quarters) was located behind the abbot's residence. The eastern part of the ward and the chapel have been preserved unlike the infirmaries and necessaries of other former monasteries.
  Ruins of the so-called brewery or malt house are found west of the former monastic quarters. Here the lay brothers worked, guests were received, and travellers were accommodated. The location of the former cloister is traced by flowr beds. A 10 m long fragment of the wall that once surrounded the entire premises has been preserved between chapter house and brewery.
  The outbuildings dating from the time when the estate was operated as a manor now house the souvenir shop, a demonstration workshop and rooms with special offers for children. Behind them, a herb garden has been planted in the grounds leading towards the Mulde river.
caption: Ruins of former malt house
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